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llEATY WITH THE SULTAN OF SULU. 

INFORMATION CONCERNING THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 




SPEECHES 



OF 



HO:^^. E. F. PETTIGREW, 

OF SOUTH DAKOTA, 



IN THE 



SEIl^ATE OF THE UISTITED STATES, 



JANUARY 17, 24, AND 31, 1900. 









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1900. 

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S r E E C H E S 

OF 

HON. RICHARD F. PETTI GREW, 

of south dakota, 
In the Senate of the United States. 



Agreement ^vitli tlie §iilfaii of !§iiilii. 

Wednesday, January 24, 1900. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair lays before the Senate a resolution 
coming over from a former day. which the Secretarj- will read. 

The Secretary read the resolution submitted yesterday by Mr. Pettigrew, as 
follows: 

Besolvcch That the President is hereby requested, if not incompatible with the public interest, 
to send to the Senate a copy of the report and all accompanying papers of Brig. Gen. John C. 
Bates in relation to the negotiation of a treaty or agreement made by him with the Siiltan of 
Sulu on the 20th day of August, 1899. Said treaty provides that the United States Government 
will pay the following monthly salaries: 

Per month. 

To the Sultan $250 

ToDato Eajah Muda.. 75 

ToDatoAttik. -- - 60 

To Dato Calbe - 75 

To Dato Joakanain - 75 

ToDatoPuyo ..- - , , 60 

To Dato Amir Haissin 60 

To Had.i'iButu -- - 50 

To Rabid Mura - 40 

To Serif Saguin --. 15 

Out of what fund are these salaries paid? Whab services do these people perform for the 
United States that entitles them to be paid out of the Treasury of the United States? And are 
these officers, or any of them, under the civil service? 

Mr. PETTIGREW. I wish to modify the resolution by striking out from the 
last paragraph the clause: 

And are these officers, or any of -them, under the civil service? 

Then I wish to insert at the top of page 2 of the resolution the words: 

And the President is further requested to inform the Senate. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator has a right to modifj^ his resolu- 
tion. The question is on agreeing to the resolution as modified. 

Mr. PETTIGREW. Mr. President, I wish to speak briefly to the resolution. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from South Dakota will proceed. 

Mr. PETTIGREW. Mr. President, the Sulu group of islands are located 
between the island of Borneo and the island of Mindanao, of the Philippine group. 
They are 150 in number. These islands were conquered by the Mohammedans 
about eight centuries ago, and they have maintained, as long as we have any his- 
tory of them, a government of their own, having an absolute monarch for a 
ruler. Spain claimed ownership over these islands, and has undertaken at various 
times to take possession of them. Her power and authority reached the distance 
only from the shores of the islands which could be traversed by projectiles from 
the cannon of her fleet. These people have been pirates and slaveholders and 
polygamists from the earliest record of their transactions. 

4117 3 



In 18TG Spain undertook to conquer their islands and assert her authority over 
them, but the effort failed; and finally the aggressive powers entered into a treaty 
with the Sultan by which Spain was to keep an officer representing that Govern- 
ment and a small number of troops at the capital of the Sulu group. The Sultan 
agreed to recognize the suzerainty of the King of Spain and promised to suppress 
piracj^ He received from Spain certain salaries as compensation for his recogni- 
tion of the suzerainty of the King of Spain. 

Whether or not the commissioners at Paris knew what they were buying I can 
not tell; but in some way we purchased the entire group, including all the Philip- 
pines; and we now find that the Sultan not only has the Sulu group under his 
jurisdiction and control, but also the large island of Mindanao, embracing an area 
as large as the State of Indiana, and also the island of Palawan. These two islands, 
or portions of them, nearly their whole area, are under the immediate control of a 
subsultan, who owes some sort of allegiance to the Sultan of the Sulu Islands. 

The island of Mindanao has never been explored by the white people, and it was 
never under the jurisdiction of Spain, except that two or three of its coast ports 
were occupied by that power. In our treaty with Spain we take title of this entire 
group, as well as to the Philippines. Last summer we made a new agreement 
with these people, which I desire to read in order that it may go in the Record. 
I will read first this dispatch from Manila, dated July 12, 1899: 

Manila special, July 13, 1899. 

General Bates, in the capacity of agent of the United States Government, sailed for Jolo this 
morning, to negotiate with the Sultan of Jolo regarding the future relations of the Jolo (or 
Sulu) Archipelago, including the Basilans, as a naval station. The Sultan assumes that the Jolos 
reverted to him, the evacuation of the Spaniards nullifying the treaty of 1878. General Bates 
•will explain to the Sultan that the Americans succeeded the Spaniards in the treaty, assuming 
its obligations and continuing the annuities it provides for. He will also present to the Sultan 
S10,000 in Mexican money as an evidence of good will. The local administration of the Jolos will 
remain unchanged. The Sultan will enforce the law, and will also be expected to fly the Ameri- 
can flag continuously and cooperate with America to maintain order and suppress piracy. The 
Sixltan will retain possession of the pearl fishing and the island trade, which will be conducted 
in such a way as to forward the development of the resources of the islands for the mutual 
benefit of Americans and natives. 

General Bates then entered into the following agreement: 

Agreement between Brig. Gen. John C Bates, representing the United States, of the one 
part, and His Highness the Sultan of Sulu, the Dato Rajah Muda, the Dato Attik, the Dato 
Kalki, and the Dato Joakanain, of the other part; it being understood that this agreement will 
be in full force only when approved by the Governor-General of the Philippine Islands and 
confirmed by the President of the United States and ^vill be subjected to future modifications 
by the mutual consent of the parties in interest. 

I deem it proper to state that this agreement has been confirmed by the Presi- 
dent of the United States in a letter transmitting the treaty to the Senate. How- 
ever, this is a treaty apparently with a quasi sovereign power, over which the 
Senate, according to our new doctrine of imperialism, has no other authority and 
no control, and it requires no ratification by the Senate and no consideration on 
our part. 

Article 1. The sovereignty of the United States over the whole archipelago of Sulu and its 
dependencies is declared and acknowledged. 

Art. 3. The United States flag will be used in the archipelago of Sulu and its dependencies:oii 
land and sea. 

Art. 3. The rights and dignities of his highness the Sultan and his dates Shall be fully 
respected ; the Moros shall not be interfered with on account of their religion; all their religious 
customs shall be respected, and no one shall be persecuted on account of his rehgion. 

Art. 4. While the United States may occupy and control such points in the archipelago of 
Sulu as jjublic interests seem to demand, encroachment will not be made upon the lands imme- 
diately about the residence of his highness the Sultan unless military necessity requires such 
occupation in case of war with a foreign power, and where the property of individuals is taken 
due compensation will be made in each case. 

Any person can purchase land in the archipelago of Sulu and hold the same by obtaining the 
consent of the Sultan and coming to a satisfactory agreement with the owner of the land, and 
such purchase shall immediately be registered in the proper office of the United States Govern- 
ment. 

Art. 5. All trade in domestic products of the archipelago of Sulu, when carried on by the 
Sultan and his people with any part of the Philippine Islands and when conducted' under the 
American flag, shall be free, unlimited, and undutiable. : ■ . - ; : 

Art. 6. The Sultan of Sulu shall be allowed to communicate direct with the governor-general 
of the Philippine Islands in making complaint against the commanding officer of Sulu or against 
any naval commander. 

Art. 7. The introduction of firearms and war material is forbidden, except under specific 
authority of the governor-general of the Philippines. 

Art. 8. Piracy must be suppressed, and the Sultan and his datos agree to heartily cooperate 
with the United States authorities to that end and to make every possible effort to arrest and 
bring to justice all persons engaged in piracy. 

Art. 9. Where crimes and offenses are committed by Moros against Moros the Government 
of the Sultan will bring to trial and punishment the criminals and offenders, who will be deliv- 
ered to the Government of the Sultan by the United States authorities if in their possession. 
4117 



In all otlier cases persons charprerl with crimes or offenses will be delivered to the United States 
authorities for trial and piinishment. 

Art. 10. Any slave in the archipelago of Sulu shall have the right to purchase freedom by 
paying to the master the usual market value. 

And I will show later on that slavery exists in its worst form. 

Art. 12. At present Americans or foreigners wi'^hing to go nito the country should state their 
wishes to the Moro authorities and ask for an escort, but it is hoped that this will become unnec- 
OGSary as we know each other better. 

Art. 13. Tlie United States will give full protection to the Sultan and his subjects in case any 
foreign nation should attempt to impose iipon them. 

Art. U. The United States will not sell the island of Sulu or any other island of the Sulu 
Archipelago to any foreign nation without the consent of the Sultan of Sulu. 

Art. 1.5. The United States (iovernment will pay the following monthly salaries: 

To the Sultan - $350 

To Dato Rajah Muda 75 

ToDato Attik - - GO 

To DatoCalbe 75 

To Dato Joakanain 75 

ToDatoPuyo - 60 

To Dato Amir Hais.sin .- GO 

ToHabjiButer 50 

ToHabib Mura - 40 

To Serif Saguin - 15 

Signed in triplicate, in English and Sulu, at Jolo, this 30th day of August, A. D. 1899 (i3th 
Arakuil AMI 1317;. 

The SULTAN SULU. 
Dato RAJAH MUDA. 
Dato ATTIK. 
Dato CALBE. 
Dato JOAKANAIN. 
Signed: J. C. BATES, 

Brigadier-General^ U. S. V. 

The annual aggregate of these salaries is $9,120. The Spanish agreement was 
for $6,300 a year. This agreement was one we offered to the Sultan, not one that 
he insisted upon. It is our own proposition that we are to maintain slavery in 
the Sulu Islands. 

Further than that, Mr. President, an investigation would show that, although 
this agreement was made on the 20th day of August, it was not possible to secure 
from the State Department a copy of the agreement until after the election in 
Ohio. More than that, the Associated Press endeavored to secure a copy of the 
agreement, and as a response to the application of that great news-promulgating 
organization its representative was handed a copy of the agreement in Arabic — • 
Sulu Arabic at that; and they could not find anybody in the United States who 
was able to translate it. The State Department had a copy in English, for the 
last paragraph of the treaty says, "Signed in trinlicate, in English and Sulu, at 
Jolo, this 20th day of August, 1899." 

From this it would appear that the State Department does not hesitate to with- 
hold information or mislead and deceive the public. I therefore expect but little 
in the way of the real facts in answer to our resolutions. 

I wonder if our State Department has two branches, as the English state 
department has— one that is secret, where secret matter is concealed forever from 
the public and never published in the Blue Book, and one which is given to the 
people in order to justify English robbery, English plunder, and English annexa- 
tion, in which is filed the information that goes in the Blue Book to silence the 
conscience of the English people. Have we adopted the same policy of concealment, 
the same policy of refusal to let the public know what exists? 

I say this agreement, when the Associated Press tried to get a copy of it before 
the Senate convened, was furnished in Arabic, and an Arabic used in the Sulu 
Islands. Therefore it was not possible to have it translated in the United States, 
and we only got this copy which I have read after Congress convened and after 
the elections last fall were over. This is on a par and in line with the whole 
business of concealing from the American people the facts in regard to our maiden 
foreign venture. We are unable to procure the truth through General Otis. Mr. 
Collins, of the Associated Press, says the censor told him he was to send nothing 
and they were going to allow nothing to be sent that would injure the Adminis- 
tration or help Mr. Bryan. 

Here is an agreement by which we are to maintain not only slavery, but 
polygamy in the Sulu Islands. Here is an agreement by which our flag is made 
to float over two crimes; and we further solemnly agree that no nation in the 
world shall be permitted to interfere. It is the chief part of the business of the 
Sultan of Sulu to get into quarrels with the natives of the interior in th<y island 
of Mindanao ; then to declare that they are in revolt against his authority. Upon 

4117 



6. 

this pretext he takes prisoners and sells them into slavery, the planters of Borneo 
"being the purchasers. JThat has been his business heretofore whenever he needed 
money. We now propose to maintain that sort of thing under the flag of the 
United States, and we stipulate, and the stipulation is approved by the President, 
that no foreign nation shall be permitted to interfere. 

Mr. SPOONER. Does the Senator wish to be understood as asserting that the 
President approved article 10 of this agreement, which refers to slavery in the 
archipelago of Sulu? 

Mr. PETTIGREW. I do. 

Mr. SPOONER. Well, the President says in his message— and if the Senator 
will permit me I v/ill read it — 

I liave confli'med said agreement, subject to the action of the Congress, and with the reserva- 
tion, which I have directed shall be comiaunicated to the Sultan of Jolo, that this agreement is 
not to be deemed in any way to authorize or give the consent of the United States to the exist- 
ence of slavery in the Sulu Archipelago. I communicate these facts to the Congress for its infor- 
mation and action. 

Mr. PETTIGREW. The President approves of an agreement which provides 
that the slave maj^ purchase his liberty at the usual market price, and according 
to the first paragraph of the agreement it goes in full force upon the approval of 
the President and can not after that be altered except by another agreement. 
This transaction is on a par with all the other inconsistencies attached to this 
miserable business. He then says that he wants the Sultan to understand that he 
does not authorize slavery; though he has approved the agreement which ratifies 
slavery. How could he transmit the agreement to us with his approval and then 
send word back to the Sultan that he did not wish to be understood as approving 
slavery? Who knows whether or not the word will ever get to the Sultan? It is 
merely an effort at double dealing and can not be otherwise construed, in my 
opinion. 

The President sends a proclamation to Mr. Otis to be announced to the people 
of the Philippines, and Mr. Otis edits it, censors it, and then inserts other matter 
in the place of that taken out, so as to convey a wrong impression to the people of 
the Philippines. After it has been sufficiently doctored he publishes the revised 
proclamation. After this sort of deception he still continues to hold his office. 
He is still maintained there with the approval of the President, and now we are 
told that word has been sent to the Sultan of Sulu that the Administration does 
not mean that which it has approved. I say it is in line with the whole policy 
from the beginning to the end. Almost everything we receive here in regard to 
this matter is on a par with the transmittal to the Associated Press of a copy of 
the Sulu agreement in Sulu Arabic to conceal the infamy until after the elections 
were over last fall. It is on a par with the statement of the commissioners who 
made this agreement, which I shall iDroceed to read. Mr. Schurman in an 
interview says: 

It seems to me that were it not for the ignorance displayed the present hue and cry about 
polygamy and slavery in these islands would be absolutely criminal. 

If it were not for the ignorance displayed, the present hue and cry about polyg- 
amy and slavery would be absolutely criminal! I suppose the hue and cry about 
slavery before our civil war was criminal. Many people so asserted, many people 
honestly so believed, and I presume that Mr. Schurman honestly believes that the 
hue and cry about polygamy and slavery again existing under the flag of the United 
States would be criminal but for the ignorance of the people who cause it. 

In taking over the Sulu group we have acquired no rights of any sort there except those 
bequeathed us by Spain. 

And yet the President, time and again during last fall in his speeches every- 
where made to the people, asserted that the flag meant the same thing everywhere, 
meant thte same here, in the Sulu group, and in Hawaii; that it meant in every 
place the same, and that its presence conferred liberty and happiness^ ,u^.on |h9 
people under it. - ^^i^^^o >' ' dT 

She was bound by her agreement with the Sultan not to interfere with the religion or customg 
of the islands, and it would be most unwise for us to attempt this by force when it can bo ulti- 
mately accomplished by the slower method of civilization and education. 

Mr. President, w^e tried the slower method of disposing of slavery and polygamy in 
the United States, also the slower method of civilization and education, but finally 
we resorted to war— the greatest war in modern times — and thereby succeeded in 
destroying slavery under our flag. It has been restored by the act of a President 
elected by the Republican party. How will it strike the veterans of that war to 
4117 



annex slavery after all these sacrifices and then propose to abolish it whon the 
slaveholders conclude it is wrong and give their consent? 

The Sulu gi'oup proper contains about 100,000 iuhaLitants. They are all Mohammedans. To 
attempt to interfere with the relit?ion of tliese pen])le would prec-ipitate one of the bloodiest 
wars in which this country has ever been engaged. They are religious fanatics of the most 
pronounced tj'pe, who care nothing for death and believe that the road to heaven can be attained 
by killing Christians. Polygamy is a part of their religion, and slavery, about which so much 
is being said just now, is a mild type of feudal homage. The Sultan believes from what he ha3 
seen of Americans that they are ready to be friendly and deal honestly by him. 

Mr. President, I will show what kind of feudal homage this slavery in the 
Philippines is. Owing to the fact that those people Avill fight, we prefer to indorse 
slavery and polygamj^ and we attack the Christians in the island of Luzon and 
compel them to surrender — what? Surrender their desire for a government of 
their own. We prefer to turn from polygamy and slavery and indorse them, put 
our flag over them, and declare that nobody shall interfere with them, and then 
turn our armies and our navies to the destruction of the independence and freedom 
of a Christian population, which we also purchased from Spain. 

I will read from the second edition of Mr. Foreman's book, which was published 
in 1899, and brought up to date. He says: 

The Sultanate is hex'editary under the Salic law. The Sultan is supported by three ministers, 
one of whom acts as regent in his absence (for he might have to go to Mecca, if he had not pre- 
viously done so), the other is minister of war, and the third is minister of justice and master of 
the ceremonies. 

Slavery exists in a most ample sense. There are slaves by birth and others by conquest, such 
as prisoners of war, insolvent debtors, and those seized by piratical expeditions to other islands. 
A Creole friend of mine, Don A. M., was one of these last. He had commenced clearing an estate 
for cane growing on the Negros coast some years ago, when he was seized and carried off to 
Sulu Island. In a few years he was ransomed and returned to Negros, where he formed one of 
the finest sugar haciendas and factories in the colony. 

I now read from Social History of the Races of Mankind, by Featherman: 

Slaverj^ exists on Sulu Island, and the slaves, who were formerly brought from the Philippines, 
are not well treated, for their masters exercise the power of life and death over them, and 
sometimes kill them for trifling offenses. The datus frequently punish a disobedient or fugitive 
slave by drawing their campilan or kris and cutting off his head at one stroke without process 
of law. 

And this is the mild form of feudal homage Schurman woiild have us believe 
should enjoy the protection of our flag until we can persuade the slaveholders 
that it is w^rong. 

Why did Schurman make this statement? The reason is plain. He did it just 
before the elections— about the time the State Department gave out the Sulu copy 
of the treaty for the information of the people of the United States. I contend 
that after this statement, made at the time it was, made by Mr. Schurman with 
an evident purpose to deceive, he has forfeited all rights to be believed by anybody 
hereafter, and that his statements on all subjects in relation to the Philippines are 
not worth J'' of credence. 

I read also from St. John's Far East, volume 2, page 192, as follows: 

The slaves are collected from all parts of the archipelago, from Acheen Head to New Guinea, 
and from the south of Siani to the most northern parts of the Philippines. It is a regular slave 
market. 

Then he describes the people. Not only have the slaveholders the right of life 
and death over their slaves, but the monarch himself has complete and full right 
to take the life of any of his subjects whenever he so chooses. There is no 
restraint upon him. In Senate Document No. 62, Fifty-fifth Congress, third 
session, there is printed from the Contemporary Review of June, 1898, by Ciaes 
Ericsson, what I shall read upon this subject. It is a description of a visit by Mr. 
Ericsson to the subsultan of the island of Palawan in 1894. It appears he went 
there for the purpose of gathering orchids, and he thus describes his visit to the 
Sultan of Palawan: 

The Sultan was not in state attire; at least there was no suggestion of the imperial yellow in 
his close fitting white trousers and vest, slippers embroidered with seed pearls, and scarlet fez. 
The two attendant nobles were much more gaily clad. Both wore tight jackets of blue silk, 
decked with gold buttons, and ti'ousers of salmon red, ornamented with buttons of gold or gilt 
f rona the knee downward. 

His Highness, who appeared to be about 50 years of age, had rather a pleasant expression, 
with a twinkle in his eye that reminded me of Arabi Pasha. A chair was brought, also ver- 
mouth and chocolate. With a cup of the last in my hand, 1 explained the purpose of my visit, 
which was to crave the Sultan's assistance in exploring Marangas Mountain. Smiling, he 
promised as many coolies as I needed, and I took my leave. 

After visiting the mountains Mr. Ericsson returned for the purpose of securing 
another escort. He says: 

Leaving men to collect the plants, I returned with the Sulus to the coast and embarked for 
Marangus. Wanting coolies for a journey to Datu Guah's village and an ascent of Panilingan 

an 



8 . 

Mottntain, I paid the Snltan another visit; hut the master of the ceremonies whispered that the 
moment was unfavorable. His Highness was susa— that is, he had been vexed or troubled. 

By means of discreet inquiries i learned the nature of his susa. It is a ratiier common story 
in the far east. Unable to lodge the whole of his wives in the "palace," His Hig-hness boarded 
a few of them— not the prettiest, I suspect— in the houses of his followers. One of these peris, an 
outcast from the Palawan paradise through want of room, consoled herself in the usual way — 
quite innocently, I was assured. The news reaching the Sultan, he sent for the venturesome 
lover and smilingly bade him be seated opposite himself. Not being altoo-ether an idiot, tho 
man had come armed. From his sarong the jeweled handle of his Inns protruded, plain to see. 
After a few complimentary commonplaces had been exchanged His Highness remarked the 
weapon. 

''Allah has been good to you, S'Ali," said he. "Those emeralds are very fine, and the 
diamonds are as stars in the heavens. If the blade match the hilt, you have a treasure. Show 
it to me." 

Thrown off his guard, S'Ali drew the kris from its sheath and, holding it by the wavy blade, 
presented it to the Sultan. Instantly half a dozen of His Highness's attendants threw them- 
selves upon the unfortunate fellow. He was overpowered in a moment and his hands securely 
tied behind his back. 

" Take him out," said the Sultan, still smiling. 

S'Ali was led away and lowered to the ground. Not a word did he utter. It was kismet. 
Why waste his breath? I did not learn the manner of his end, but it would be either by kris or 
bowstring. Let us hope it was the first. In tho hands of a skillful executioner the kris is a 
merciful weapon. He was buried in the jungle behind the Sultan's "palace." Such was the 
susa of Muhammad Harum Narrasid, lang de per-Tuan— "he who ruleth"— in the year of our 
Lord 1894. And the Spaniards were supposed to govern the island of Palawan. 

And so are we supposed to govern these islands, and Old Glory floats over the 
throne. 

I could understand why the Sultan did not care to see a European so soon after his crime. 
However, I obtained the coolies and sent them on. 

I do not care, Mr. President, to delve deeper into the character of those people. 
I simply desire to show what we have secured by this purchase. It has developed 
that we have bought al^out 6,000,000 Christian people who are members of the 
Catholic Church, occupying the northern islands of the Philippine Archipelago; 
that we have purchased from one to two hundred thousand Mohammedan slave- 
holders, polygamists, who live by prosecuting the slave trade against the native 
population of the southern islands of the group; that we have agreed to maintain 
this condition of affairs; and the treaty is so arranged that it goes into force with- 
out the legislative bodies of this Government having anything to say about it. 

It seems to me, under these circumstances, that it is incumbent upon the Senate 
and upon the House of Representatives to take up this matter at once, and take such 
action upon it as will blot out the stain upon our flag placed there by the Admin- 
istration. I therefore desire the information called for by the resolution, so that 
we may act, and act intelligently and promptly, upon this subject. 

Mr. LODGE. Mr. President, I think the resolution of the Senator from South 
Dakota is covered by a previous resolution which has been adopted, but I see no 
X^ossible objection to this resolution going through. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on agreeing to the resolution 
submitted by the Senator from South Dakota as it has been modified. 

The resolution as modified was agreed to, as follows : 

Resolved, That the President is hereby requested, if not incompatible with the public interests, 
to send to the Senate a copy of the report, and all accompanying papers, of Brig. Gren. John C. 
Bates in relation to the negotiations of a treaty or agreement made by him with the Sultan of 
Sulu on the 20th day of August, 1899. Said treaty provides that the United States Government 
will pay the following monthly salaries : 

To the Sultan, $250 per month; to Dato Eajah Muda, $75 per month; to Dato Attik, |60 per 
month; to Dato Calbe, $75 per month; to Dato Joakanain, $75 per month; to Dato Puyo, $60 per 
month; to Dato Amir Haissin, $60 per month; to Hadji Butu, $50 per month; to Habid Mura, $40 
per month; to Serif Saguin, $15 per month. 

And the President is requested to further inform the Senate out of what fund are these salaries 
paid? What service do these people perform for the United States that entitles them to be paid 
out of the Treasury of the United States? 



Information Concerning the Philippine Islands. 

Wednesday, January 17, 1900. 

The Senate having under consideration the following resolution introduced by the Senator 
from Massachusetts [Mr. Lodge] as a substitute for a resolution of inquiry introduced by the 
Senator from Soiath Dakota ["Mr. Pettigrew] : 

That the President be requested to send totheSenate,if not inconsistent with the public inter- 
est, all reports and dispatches relating to the insurrection in the Philippines, and especially any 
information as to communications or correspondence with the insurgents, from the 1st of 
January, 1898, on the part of any officer in the military, naval, consular, or diplomatic service of 
the United States. 

4117 



Also, all instructions given by him to the commissioners to the Philippine Islands, or either 
of them; 

Also, any information which may have come to him or any Department of the Government 
since January 1, 1898, in regard to any plans of the people in arms against the United States for 
the pillage of Manila, for risings in the city, or for the destruction of foreign property and the 
massacre of foreign residents; 

Also, any information that may have come to him or any Department of the Government of 
the treatment of the other inhabitants of the Philippines by those in arms against the authority 
of the United States, and of the attitude and feeling of such other inhabitants or tribes toward 
the so-called government of Aguiualdo and his armed followers; 

Also, any information that may have come to him or any Department of the Government of 
the treatment of prisoners, either Spanish or American, by the people in arms against the 
authority of the United States; 

Also, any information that may have come to him or any Department of the Government as 
to any aid or encouragement received by Aguinaldo and his followQi's from persons in the 
United States, as to what pamphlets, speeches, or other documents emaiiating from the United 
States, and adverse to its authority and to its policy, were circulated, in whole or in part, among 
the Filipinos in arms against the United States, among the other inhabitants of the islands, or 
among the soldiers of the United States, and any information as to the ellect, if any, of such 
pamphlets, speeches, and other documents, or of similar utterances iu the United States, upon 
the course of the rebellion against the United States; 

Also, any further or other information which would tend to throw light upon the conduct 
and events of the insurrection against the authority of the United States in the Philippine 
Islands, and of the military movements for its suppression since January 1, 1898. 

Mr. PETTIGREW said: 

Mr. President : I wish briefly to address the Senate on this subject. 

The resolution is in the discretion of the President. Such information as he 
chooses to send us we are to receive under this resolution. I am in favor of pass- 
ing the resolution, I am desirous of securing whatever information we can upon 
this subject. 

Early in the session, nearly a month ago, I introduced a resolution asking 
whether the vessels of our Navy, the officers of our Navy, had saluted the flag of 
the Philippine republic; whether two of our vessels accompanied a Filipino ves- 
sel to Subig Bay for the purpose of capturing a Spanish garrison, and whether 
after the surrender of that garrison we turned the prisoners over to Aguinaldo's 
forces. That resolution was tabled by the Senate without allowing me the privi- 
lege of speaking upon it. The facts contained in that resolution, in my opinion, 
were true. We made Aguinaldo and his forces our ally by saluting their flag and 
by accompanying them in the capture of a Spanish garrison, the prisoners of 
which we turned over to them. 

I introduced the resolution in good faith. I was not sure then, but I feel sure 
now, that the facts contained in the resolution were true, and I wanted the record 
evidence. Information has come to my knowledge since — the statement of an of- 
ficer who accompanied this expedition to Subig Bay — corroborating the facts con- 
tained in the resolution, and thus is disclosed the reason why the information was 
denied. The resolution was in the proper form; it was a proper question. 

The storm of indignation on the part of the American people and many of the 
Republican newspapers throughout the country at the suppression of this resolu- 
tion led to a change of tactics, and then I introduced the second resolution, asking 
jf the insurgents, after fighting had commenced, did not send General Torres with 
a flag of truce and ask that fighting be stopped, and that a neutral zone should be 
agreed upon, the boundaries of which were to be established by General Otis and 
satisfactory to him, until negotiations could be had to see whether the difiiculties 
could be settled, and I also asked in that resolution what reply was made and 
whether General Otis did not reply that fighting having once commenced, it must 
go on to the grim end. 

That resolution was not laid upon the table at the time, but an amendment or a 
substitute was ofilered by the Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. LodgeJ asking for 
all the information and all the dispatches which may have passed between our offi- 
cers and the insurgents, as they are called. But on yesterday my second resolu- 
tion calling for these facts was laid upon the table. I conceived these facts to be 
pertinent. If we had recognized Aguinaldo's forces and Aguinaldo's government 
by saluting their flag, and had acted with them and made them our allies, then we 
are now fighting our allies. 

If we began the war, as General Otis indicates in his report, by killing the first 
man and then acting on the aggressive while the enemy acted upon the defensive, 
it seems to me the proof is conclusive that the war was commenced by us, and 
if, after two days' fighting, the insurgents wanted to stop the war, to stop the 
killing, and we said it must go on to the grim end, then I assert, Mr. President, 
that the blood of every soldier who has fallen since that time is on the head of 
this Administration and there is no escape from it; the puerile and silly talk 
about those who oppose the policy of the Administration being guilty of the death 
of our brave men disappears absolutely, and the responsibility goes where it 

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10 

beion.o^s: the sixty boys from South Dakota who lost then' lives, conscripted Into 
an nn willing service, retained after their term had expired, lies at the doors of 
the Administration, and there is no chance to avoid it. 

This information has been withheld. My resolution to acquire it has been laid 
upon the table. I hope the resolution which we are now to i^ass will bring the 
information. It is pertinent to the issue. 

But, Mr. President, I offered another resolution yesterday — a resolution calling 
for all the instructions to our commissioners at Paris and the correspondence 
between the Administration and the commissioners at Paris; but that was laid 
upon the table, and then the Senator from Wisconsin [Mr. Spooner] charged me 
with trying to put the Administration in a hole. 

Mr. President, it seems to me, in the light of the facts which have been devel- 
oped in this contest to secure information, that the only thing that can put the 
Administration in a hole is the truth and that it is the purpose to keep the truth 
from the American people in order to keep from putting the Administration in a 
hole. If getting the truth before the people of the United States will embarrass 
the Administration, I can not help it, and 1 shall try to get it. I charge that this 
censorship of the press, this concealment of facts, was for the purpose of protect- 
ing the interests of the Administration for reelection, and now I am charged, be- 
cause I tried to get the facts by a proper resolution, with trying to put the Admin- 
istration in a hole. 

Now, let us see. It is asserted by the imperialists that this situation was brought 
upon us by an act of God; that these islands are in our hands by the act of Provi- 
dence. The President alludes to this fact in his message, and in speeches he has 
stated that God has placed a duty upon us, or similar language. Many of those 
who advocate this policy, not of expansion but of imperialism — the government 
of colonies against their will and by conquest— declare that we are doing God's 
service. 

Now, Mr. President, if this information which is asked for by this last resolu- 
tion discloses the fact that the President of the United States immediately upon 
the signing of the protocol which led finally to the treaty of peace instructed our 
commissioners to take nothing less than the island of Luzon, and if afterwards he 
instructed them to take the whole group, the only way I can see that God's hand 
is in this work is that He must have made Mr. McKinley His prophet. He must 
have appeared in a vision to the President. Of course, if this is true, the disclosure 
of these instructions and this information would put the Administration in a hole. 

What are the facts which led up to the treaty with Spain? I find in the report 
of the Secretary of the Navy for 1898, on page 122, volume 2, the following 
telegram : 

Washington, August 13, 189S. 
Dewey (care American consul), Hongkong: 

The President desires to receive from you any important information you may have of the 
Philippines ; the desirability of the several islands ; the character of their population ; coal *nd 
other mineral deposits ; their harbor and commercial advantages, and in a naval and commercial 
sense which would be the most advantageous. If you have other information which may be of 
value to the Government in their negotiations, the President may desire your jn-esence here. 
If he should request you to come, take the qviickest route of travel. 

Allen. 

Here, then, is a telegram the day Manila fell and the day after the protocol was 

signed, sent by Mr. Allen, the First Assistant Secretary of the Navy, to Mr. 

Dewey to know which island or whether all the islands were worth grabbing or 

not. Dewey answered as follows: 

Manila, August 20, 1803. 
Secretary oe the IsTavy, Washington: 

Referring to the Department's telegram of August 13, important islands are: Colon, Luzon, 
Panay, Cebu, Negros, Leyte. Others, owing to the nature of the inhabitants, have a small 
amount of civilization, want of cultivation. They may be neglected, especially isles of southern 
group. 

The isles of the southern group are where the Sultan of Sulu reigned, where 
they have polygamy and slavery. Dewey said, " They may be neglected, especi- 
ally the isles of the southern group." 

Luzon is in all respects the most desirable to retain. Contains most important commercial 
ports. Manila is farthest north. Produces all of the good tobacco. Friendly natives. Civili- 
zation somewhat advanced. Not yet developed. Possible rich minerals. Population, 835,000. 
Subic Bay best harbor for coaling purposes and military. Water deep; landlocked; easily 
defended. Strategically, command of bay and city of Manila, with arsenal at Cavite, most 
valuable. 

Panay, Cebu. Negr&s thickly populated, most civilized, and well cultivated. Iloilo second 
commercifil port; center of sugar trade; a good harbor strategically: in view of the situation, 
good for dsfense. Cebu third commercial port; a good harbor, very desirable. No coal of good 
4117 



11 

quality can be procured in Philippine Islands. Some has been mined on Ccbn, English com- 
pany. I trust it may not be necessary to order me to Washington. Should regret very much 
to leave here while matters remain in present critical condition. 

DEWEY. 

Now, Mr. President, it appears that immediately upon signing the protocol 
the President attempted to ascertain the value of these islands, whether they had 
coal and mineral, etc.— their resources. Was it an inspiration that led the Presi- 
dent to make this inquiry? Certainly if God had anything to do with this trans- 
action the inspiration must have come to the person who had the power and did 
direct that we should take nothing less than the island of Luzon. 

Afterwards we took all the group, polygamy and everything else. Who 
directed that? Was that God's work also? Who insisted that our flag should 
fly above a harem and a slave market? Why, Mr. President, it seems to me that 
if a man did a philanthropic act, if he did something prompted by the better 
nature of man, it would be well to charge it to the Supreme Being. But if a 
man is going to plunder somebody else and w^ants to know whether what he has is 
worth stealing or not, the inspiration ought to come from the devil and not from 
God. 

But, Mr. President, this extreme philanthropic view of the subject, this extreme 
responsibility thrown upon the Diet y, is not shared in by all men. They are 
divided on the subject. The Senator from Indiana [Mr. Beveridge] is extremely 
intense in this direction, and also in the direction of taking the islands, because 
they are rich and will be so profitable to have, while the Senator from Colorado 
[Mr. Wolcott] objects to the sordid view of the Senator from Indiana and does 
not want quite so much philanthropy mixed up with the transaction. 

Now, what I want to ascertain is what the argument is on the part of the impe- 
rialists. Are we going to rely on the doctrine that we are going to bless those 
people with our civilization against their will, and that God has ordered us to do 
a great work ? That is the English doctrine, the doctrine which has justified the 
plunder of every colony she has conquered on earth. Are we going to do that, or 
are going, after all, to fall back on half of the position of the Senator from Indi- 
ana and the whole position of the Washington Post on this subject, and are we 
simply going to say, " They are rich and worth seizing, and therefore we will 
seize them, no matter how much blood and treasure it costs"? If the contest is to 
settle down to this proposition, then perhaps the information asked by my amend- 
ment which was tabled yesterday, for the instructions to the commissioners, is 
immaterial. 

If we are going to settle down to the proposition that here is a foothold from 
which we can join the other robber nations of the world in plundering China, and 
the foothold itself is worth having, then I am prepared to show, Mr. President, 
that the islands are not worth having; that they will confer no happiness upon 
the people of the United States; that they will simply increase the burden of the 
men who produce the wealth of this country, for we raise our taxes by a per capita 
levy upon consumption. 

It will simply lay a burden upon the people who raise the revenue and pay the 
taxes, and compel them not only to furnish the money, but to furnish the common 
soldiers, to be officered by the wealthy classes, who own and control the Admin- 
istration. Our boys will look forward to a career to end in unknown graves in a 
tropical land. A high aspiration, is it not, for the descendants of men who estab- 
lished, as they believed, a perpetual and eternal republic in this country? 

No revenue can come from these islands to the United States. We have spent 
more money already than every dollar of the commerce, if their commerce is no 
greater than it has been in the past, that those islands will have for the next 
fifteen or twenty years. Their total commerce, their imports and their exports, 
were not to exceed $15,000,000 a year. We have spent $200,000,000 already, besides 
the $20,000,000 we gave Spain. 

Did Spain insist on our taking the Sulu Islands, with its slavery and polygamy, 
when we offered her $20,000,000 for these islands? The correspondence would 
show. We are in the dark on that subject. 

If she did, with what irony, with what concealed satisfaction, she must look 
upon the act! I imagine the Spanish people enjoying great satisfaction at the 
wonderful victory which they have gained over us by the overthrow of every 
principle we ever advocated and the adoption of the Spanish policy. Did Spain 
force upon us this Sulu group? I should like to have known' that fact. But if , 
after all, this debate is simply to be that this is a profitable venture antl the ele- 
ments of philanthropy are to be discarded and abandoned, if cant and hypocrisy 
are no longer to be the chief reason given, before this debate is over we shall 
show that a constant loss and drain must come to the people of the United States 
if we undertake to hold the group. 

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12 . 

TVednesday, January 31, WOO. 

Mr. PETTIGREW. Mr. President, the ship which brought General Lawton's 
body to this country brought also the body of one of my dearest friends, the adju- 
tant of the First South Dakota Regiment, killed after the treaty of peace was 
signed, killed in a service in which he did not enlist, killed in a service which he 
believed w^as wrong. Yet, brave boy that he was, he led his forces to victory 
many a time and finally fell in that distant land. 

Mr. President, I want a truce. I wanted it before my friend was killed. I 
wanted a truce before the sixty South Dakota boys were killed. Aroused by a 
just indignation and a grand patriotism and a splendid enthusiasm, they enrolled 
their names to drive from this continent the despotic power of Spain. But they 
are gone, drafted into an unwilling service and killed in an unwilling service, 
after they had a right to go home— after their term of enlistment had expired. 
With unparalleled bravery and courage they obeyed the commands of their 
President and went to their death. 

The day after fighting began at Manila Aguinaldo asked for a truce. He said, 
''Fix the limits of a zone which we shall occupy, and let us try, without blood- 
shed, to settle this difficulty; " and the answer was, '■ Fighting having once begun, 
it must go on to the grim end." But if the request had been granted, if the truce 
had been given. General Lawton would be living to-day and the South Dakota 
boj^s would be in the bosoms of their families instead of moldering in the soil of 
Luzon. Day by day, constantly from that time to this, the Filipinos fighting for 
freedom have sent their envoys asking for peace, begging a truce. The President 
at Fargo says Aguinaldo offered peace for independence. Peace for independence! 

He said he had another price for peace a short time ago, but the United States 
never gave gold for peace. Aguinaldo did not ask gold for peace. He asked for 
that boon, dearer than life, which made our forefathers found this Government 
and which has brought into being every republic throughout the world. Fight 
until they surrender! If that rule had been applied, the war of the Revolution 
would still be going on. No self-respecting people would lay down their arms at 
such a challenge. 

That the Filipinos have the capacity of self-government is demonstrated by 
that fact. All we have to do to stop bloodshed in the Philippines is to say to 
those people they shall have that priceless boon which is so dear to us and which 
they have shown is dear enough to them that they are willing to lay down their 
lives for it. Why shall we not do it? Why shall we continue this war of aggres- 
bion? But a few provinces only in those islands have been conquered. Our 
troops occupy less than one-quarter of the area, and over the rest Aguinaldo's 
government still prevails. That is the situation to-day. All the provinces of 
northern Luzon are untouched, and the peaceful government which Sargent and 
Wilcox describe is still being carried on. Much of the southern part of Luzon is 
still unoccupied by our troops. Almost no portion of the other islands of the archi- 
pelago have been occupied by us. We are on the shore and in but a few places; 
and this war, in my opinion, will go on and on for years unless we say to those 
people that which we ought to say and say it at once, "You shall have your inde- 
pendence." 

This talk about revolt, about fighting insurgents, it seems to me, is absurd. 
How can we have title without possession? I think it is a fair proposition, well 
sustained in international law, that when a country is purchased, possession must 
come in order to give sovereignty. Spain could not give any possession, because 
her power was ousted and another government existed in its place. There is no 
revolt; if we stop fighting, the war will be over. 

The other day the Queen of England, in her message to the Parliament, made 
this statement: 

In resisting the invasion of my South African colonies by the South African Republic and 
Orange Free State my people have responded with devotion and enthuiasm to the appeal which 
I have made to them, and the heroism of my soldiers in the field and my sailors and marines who 
were landed to cooperate with them has not fallen short of the noblest traditions of our mili- 
tary history. 

Here, then, is a charge that the Boers have attacked Great Britain. The same 
charge is made against the Filipinos, although the facts do not bear it out any 
more than they do in the case of the Boers. The excuse, then, is the cry of the 
flag, the appeal to patriotism, the effort to rally our people to sustain an Adminis- 
tration in doing the greatest wrong ever perpetrated by a government in the his- 
tory of the world. It is the policy Great Britain has followed always, and she has 
become our teacher and our director in our affairs. Great Britain in all her con- 

41J.7 



13 

quests for the last fifty years first got in where she had no business to be, and hag 
l)laced her armed forces in jintagonism to the liberties of other people, and then 
when the flag was fired upon she has rallied her people to the defense of the flag. 

She has said, "We can not talk peace. We can not listen to the proposition of 
right or wrong, or questions whether we had a right to be there or not, until the 
enemy surrenders." It was so in Ireland from the earliest day. Trouble occurred 
in Ireland because of resistance to oppression and aggression and wrong, and then 
they said. "The strong arm of British power must be used to suppress discontent 
in Ireland, and when it is suppressed then we will try and do right," never doing 
right when Ireland was pacified by power. Outbreaks again occurred, and then 
the same plea was made to the English people; and so it has been around the 
world. 

The South African Chartered Company have killed in South Africa in the last 
twelve years 4.000 men, and themselves have lost but five or six men, with the 
same old plea, adding territory after territory to their possessions; and now it is 
argued in the English Parliament, now it is insisted by the Queen of England, 
that the fighting must go on in South x\frica until the two Republics in South 
Africa are destroyed. The same argument is heard here. Fighting must go on 
to the grim end, until these men struggling for freedom are all killed or lay down 
their arms and surrender, and then we will determine, without their being con- 
sulted, what shall be done with what is left. 

Against this, Mr. President, I protest. I believe that it is an attack upon our 
institutions, a reversal of the history of this Government, and an abandonment 
of those doctrines which we have held so dear thro-ugh all the years of our exist- 
ence as a nation. 

* * * * * * * 

Mr. PETTIGREW. Mr. President, I do not care to reply to the personal attack 
upon me, nor to the charge that 1 am a traitor to my country. I yield to no man 
in my devotion to my country and my flag. I am jealous of her honor, and I 
believe that her honor can only be saved from stain by a reversal of the policy 
into which this Administration has led us. I believe that only by protesting 
against the violation of our pledges and against the overthrow of all the princi- 
ples upon which this Government is founded, by insisting upon returning to the 
doctrines of the fathers, to the principles of the Declaration of Independence — 
that governments must derive their just powers only from the consent of the gov- 
erned—can we save our flag from stain and country from dishonor. 

That is as much of a reply as I care to make to the insinuations of the Senator 
from Connecticut [Mr. Hawley] or the statement of the Senator from New 
Jersey [Mr. Sewell]. 

Now, with regard to Aguinaldo, they charge that I am defending a forger and 
a bribe taker and a scoundrel upon this floor. I will simply read from the record 
sent to us by the President upon that subject. I will read from Document 62, 
from the official reports by our officers in Luzon, and we will see whether the 
statement is sustained by the facts. 

Last year the President of the United States in sending the Spanish treaty to 
this body accompanied it with a document which contained the reports of our 
consuls in the East and our officers in Luzon. It is presumed that he knew the 
contents of the document, that he was not ignorant of the records of his own 
department. Yet October 13, 1899, the President, at Fargo, in North Dakota, said: 

The leader of the insurgent forces says to the American Government, "You can have peace 
if you give us independence." Peace for independence! He had another price than that for 
peace once before, but the United States pays no gold for peace. We never gave a bribe for 
peace in all our history, and we never will. 

Wherever that standard is raised, it stands for liberty, for civilization, and humanity. 

The President thus charges that Aguinaldo sold out to Spain, reiterating a 
charge that had been proven false by the repeated statements of his officer; repeat- 
ing a charge that was conclusively proven untrue by the records of the Depart- 
ment of State. 

The charge is now made by the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs 
of this body [Mr. Haw^ley], the Senator from Connecticut, that Aguinaldo sold 
out to Spain. In Document No. 62, transmitted to us by the President, on pages 
380 and 381, General Merritt says: 

There are a number of Filipinos whom I have met, among them General Aguinaldo and a few 
of his leaders, whom I believe thoroughly trustworthy and fully capable of self-government. 
* * * Aguinaldo, honest, sincere, and poor; not well educated, but a natural leader of men, 
with considerable shrewdness and ability, highly respected by ail. 
4117 



14 

In a memorandum which General Greene joresented to the peace conference at 
Paris he says: 

In August, 1896, an insurrection broke out in Cavite under the leadership of Emilio Aguinaldo, 
and soon spread to other provinces on both side? of Manila. It continued with varying suc- 
cesses on both sides, and the trial and execution of numerous insurgents, until December, 1897, 
when the governor-general, Primo de Re vera, entered into written agreement with Aguinaldo, 
the substance of the document which is in the possession of Senor Felipe Agoncilla, who accom- 
panied me to Washington. 

In brief, it required that Agoncilla and the other insurgent leaders should leave the country, 
the Government agreeing to pay them $800,000 in silver and promising to introduce numerous 
reforms, including representation in the Spanish Cortes, freedom of the press, general amnesty 
for all insurgents, and the expulsion or secularization of the monastic orders. 

Aguinaldo and his associates went to Hongkong and Singapore. A portion of the money, 
$400,000, was deposited in banks at Hongkong, and a lawsuit soon arose between Aguinaldo and 
one of his sulDordinate chiefs named Artacho, which is interesting on account of the very honor- 
able position taken by Aguinaldo. 

''On account of the very honorable position taken by Aguinaldo." 

Artacho sued for a division of the money among the insurgents according to rank. Agui- 
naldo claimed that the money was a trust fund, and was to remain on deposit until it was seen 
whether the Spaniards would carry out their promised reforms, and if they failed to do so, i'fe 
was to be used to defray the expenses of a new insurrection. The suit was settled out of court 
by paying Artacho $5,000. 

" No steps have been taken to introduce the reforms, more than 3,000 insurgents, who have 
been deported to Fernando Po and other places, are still in confinement, and Aguinaldo is now 
using the money to carry on the operations of the present insurrection. 

This was written August 30, 1898. He took that money and used it as our ally 
to fight Spain, to buy guns and ammunition to carry on the contest against the 
common enemy; and yet he is charged with being a bribe taker and a scoundrel. 

Oscar F. Williams, our consul at Manila, writes to Mr. Day, the Secretary of 
State, May 25, 1898, on page 328 of Document 62: 

To-day I executed a power of attorney whereby General Aguinaldo released to his attorneys 
in fact $i00,000 now in bank in Hongkong, so that money therefrom can pay for 3,000 stand of 
arms boiight there, and expected here to-morrow. 

Mr. Wildman, our consul at Hongkong, reports to Assistant Secretary Moore 
exactly the same story, on pages 336 and 337, in Document No, 62. I will not read 
it, because it is long, but I will insert it, if there is permission, in my remarks. 

The matter referred to is as follows: 

I have lived among the Malays of the Straits Settlements and have been an honored guest 
of the different sultanates. I have watched their system of government and have admired'^their 
intelligence, and I rank them high among the semicivilized nations of the earth. The natives of 
the Philippine Islands belong to the Malay race, and while there are very few piire Malays among 
their leaders, I think their stock has rather been improved than debased by admixtiire. I con- 
sider the forty or fifty Philippine leaders, with whose fortunes I have been very closely connected, 
both the superiors of the Malays and the Cubans. Aguinaldo, Agoncilla, and Sandic'o are all men 
who would all be leaders in their separate departments in any country, while among the wealthy 
Manila inen who live in Hongkong and who are spending their money liberally for the overthrow 
of the Spaniards and the annexation to the United States, men like the Cortes family and the 
Basa family, would hold their own among bankers and lawyers anywhere. 

♦ * * * * * *■ 

There has been a systematic attempt to blacken the name of Aguinaldo and his cabinet on 
account of the questionable terms of their surrender to Spanish forces a year ago this month. 
It has been said that they sold their country for gold, but this has been conclusively disproved, 
not only by their own statements but by the speech of the late Governor-General Rivera in the 
Spanish Senate June 11, 1898. He said that Aguinaldo undertook to submit if the Spanish Gov- 
ernment would give a certain sum to the widows and orphans of the insurgents. He then 
admits that only a tenth part of this sum was ever given to Aguinaldo, and that the other 
promises made he did not find it expedient to keep. 

I was in Hongkong September, 1897, when Aguinaldo and his leaders arrived under contract 
with the Spanish Government. They waited until the 1st of November for the payment of the 
promised money and the fulfillment of the promised reforms. Only |400,000, Mexican, was ever 
placed to their credit in the banks, and on the 3d of November Mr. F. Agoncilla, late minister 
of foreign affairs in Aguinaldo's cabinet, calJed upon me and made a proposal, which I trans- 
mitted to the State Department in my dispatch No. 19, dated November 3, 1897. In reply the 
State Department instructed me "to courteously decline to communicate with the Department 
further regarding the alleged mission." I obeyed these instructions to the letter until the 
breaking out of the war, when, after consultation with Admiral Dewey, I received a delegation 
from the insurgent junta, and'they bound themselves to obey all laws of civilized warfare and 
to place themselves absolutely under the orders of Admiral Dewey if they were permitted to 
return to Manila. At this time their president, Aguinaldo, was in Singapore negotiating through 
Consul-General Pi*att with Admiral Dewey for his return. 

On page 347 of Document No. 62 Mr. Pratt, our consul at Singapore, June 2, 
1898, makes the following statement to Mr. Day: 

No close observer of what had transpired in the Philippines during the past few years could 
have failed to recognize that General Aguinaldo enjoyed above all others tlie confidence ot the 
Filipino insurgents and the respect alike of Spaniards and foreigners in the islands, all of whom 
vouch for his high sense of justice and honor. 
4117 



15 

Mr. Schiirman, in his Chicago interview (and this is the only authority I will 
read which is not vouched for by official documents) August 20, 1899, said: 

[President Schurman, Chicago interview, August 20, 1899.] 

General Aguinaldo is believed on the island to be honest, and I think that he is acting honestly 
in money matters, but whether from moral or political reasons I would not ssLy.— Oriental 
American, page 99. 

The fact of the matter is that he tried to bribe the insurgents, as near as we 
can ascertain, and failed; they would not take gold for peace. 

Now, I should like to ask the imperialists in this body what they think of a 
President who will go about the country saying that Aguinaldo had another price 
for peace, in the face of the official documents from his own officers in the State 
Department, where they declare that he acted with the highest sense of honor, 
that he took no bribe, but, on the contrary, deposited the money, and used it, 
when Spain failed to carry oat her promises, to help us fight the Spanish forces? 

What do you think of a President that will state that the United States never 
did give gold for peace, and never will, and then approve of the treaty with the 
Sultan of Sulu, which provides that we shall pay to the Sultan $250 per month 
and to his subchiefs a sum which in all amounts to §9,200 per year? In view of 
all these facts, of what future value is any statement the President may make 
upon this subject? Mr. President, I can not contemplate the fact without great 
sorrow that a man can occupy so high a position as that of President of the 
United States and yet disgrace that great office by repeated falsehoods — falsehoods 
proven so by the record of his own officers sent to us. 
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